Candiace Dillard and her husband Chris Bassett got a lot of flack during Season 6 of The Real Housewives of Potomac. For starters, fans, and her co-stars and mother, were not receptive to Basset acting as her manager for her budding singing career. They felt he lacked the experience, being a trained chef and all. Things were further complicated during the season 6 reunion where guest host Nicki Minaj asked Dillard to sing on the spot. Bassett felt it was an ambush. Fans and co-stars were confused. Now Dillard is clearing things up.

Candiace Dillard says she didn’t want to sing the song that Nicki Minaj asked her to sing

The “Drive Back” singer recently appeared on Angela Yee’s Lip Service podcast. She spoke with the radio personality and her co-hosts Gigi Maguire, Stephanie Santiago, and Laura Mora, on her initial apprehension to singing acapella on the spot. For Dillard, it was simply that she preferred to sing a different song than her current single. 

According to the reality star, she thought a gospel song served her vocal range the best and wanted to sing one that showcased her voice.

“I was not apprehensive about singing, I wanted to sing a different song,” she said. “And any singers know that songs that showcase your voice are very important. As a singer, you have like your lexicon of songs that you know you go to when someone is like, ‘Sing.’ And “Drive Back” was not one of those. For me, it’s Gospel music. I have several Gospel songs that I will go to when I’m like, ‘OK, I’m about to audition…’

She also says there’s a legal issue at play when filming. “In television, there’s a thing called licensing and if you don’t have the license to sing a song on TV, they can’t show it,” she continued. “My songs, I have an agreement with the network to play my songs on the show. So I had to sing one of my songs. And it was fine.”

Check out the episode below: